L-4: Cursed Country

In the middle of a comforting spring grassland, a soothing breeze danced through the air without a care. The sky was a pure blue, decorated by the occasional stroke of white. The temperature was perfect for napping, the type of day that Yiv would have loved to simply roll around and relax.

It was unfortunate that she was stuck with a bunch of brats.

Surrounded by a prison of carriages and long slinks, Yiv looked on enviously as the rest of her tribe unpacked boxes and set up tools for their temporary settlement. She went ignored except by one who had caught her eye; the boy who was close to her age looked at her before putting his hands in front of his eyes mockingly, peering through circles he had formed with his index finger and his thumb. She glared at him before turning back to her problem at hand, which seemed to be getting louder and louder by the second.

"Okay, if everyone could be quiet please."

The children continued talking amongst themselves, completely ignoring her request. Their voices magnitudes louder than the satisfied groans of the slinks, the conversation seemed incredibly heated for one between people that young; two boys aggressively glared at each other while the rest of the dozen riled them on, eager to see blood.

"Quiet. Right now. We've got a lesson to do."

A few children turned to look at where the stern voice was coming from, but almost all of them immediately turned back once they saw where it was coming from. One child looked on for a few more seconds before flicking an obscene gesture towards her with his fingers, looking back towards the two boys with glee as his hand waved around in the air towards her. Just as her frustration came to a boiling point, Yiv felt a frail hand on her back.

"Alright kids, pay attention. You're going to be stuck here all night unless you listen to sister Yiv, got it?"

Elder Dren creaked forward on his cane, hunched over the children with a strangely energetic and joyful smile. Within five seconds, the children sat in front of Yiv neatly and obediently, their minds suddenly open to the possibilities that came with education.

"Elder! It's nice to see you here… right kids?"

The children nodded feverishly, their sudden boost in enthusiasm not being lost on the elder who chuckled to himself audibly.

"It's nice to see everyone so excited to learn. You kids are lucky to have a brilliant mind like Yiv teaching you; I remember when I was younger, the teacher was my own mother. Calling her mom accidentally was even more embarrassing for me and the other kids and it was a lot more difficult for me too."

He managed to get a few giggles out of the crowd before turning towards Yiv, an eyebrow inquisitively raised.

"So, what are we learning today young one."

Yiv quickly reached for a large circular object on her back, a wooden pole surrounded by parchment. She smoothly unravelled in front of everyone, letting the loose side of the parchment dangle downwards and holding up the wooden portion with her arm off to the side of her. With her other hand she reached for her staff, pointing towards the parchment with the unwieldy wood with an unnatural precision.

"We're going to learning about the five countries, elder."

On the parchment was a neatly drawn map, meticulously marked out and to scale. The landmass was divided into five separate colours, each with their names written in scrawled cursive in large font to the nearest spare space.

"Everyone should know where this is."

Yiv pointed towards the large patch of green along the east of the continent, the largest out of all the countries. Almost immediately a few children called out the first few letters, but managed to remain quiet once they reminded themselves that they were being observed. Seeing a sea of raised hands, Yiv pointed her staff towards a girl at the back, who immediately responded chirpily.

"Valrast!"

Yiv nodded, placing her attention back onto the map.

"You should already know about Valrast, since we live here. Our country is the biggest, but our population is the second smallest out of the five."

Yiv pointed her staff towards the country at the top of the continent, which was a long patch of orange stretching along the north of the landmass.

"Does anyone know which one this is?"

She looked onto the crowd to see a few blank faces; this time only two hands were raised. She pointed at a boy sitting in the front who looked towards her with a nasty grin on his face.

"Terdin."

Yiv rolled her eyes, feeling her contempt for humanity bubbling up in the back of her mind.

"Terlin. The country is called Terlin. The land there is mostly desert and there are many traders. Each winter our tribe usually pays them a visit, so you'll be able to have a peek at what their country is like in a few months."

"Don't talk to them though. They're all greedy bastards."

Yiv quickly shot a glance at the old man who had highjacked her lesson. He seemed ignorant of her glare, keeping his attention on the children and making sure they had heard his warning.

"Most of them are very intelligent people but if you're sincere, they'll be honest back."

Before the elder could get in another word, she quickly moved her staff to the country across from Valrast, a tiny landmass coloured in red.

"This country is Kesdril. Despite being the smallest out of the five, they have an experienced military and are a constant threat. They struggle to make many moves due to their small population."

"Unfortunate souls. Take pity on them, children; they were born in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Yiv's seething hatred of children was soothed by the rude interloper that was now butting his own opinions into her lesson. Grinning through her teeth, she managed to mutter out a quick last word.

"Just remember that violence is never okay, no matter the situation. Right elder?"

She turned towards the elder with a glare that was potent enough to cross the generational gap. The old man quickly nodded towards the children, trying to hide his panic as much as possible but failing miserably. Yiv peeled her gaze off of him and back to the map, pointing her staff at the country on the bottom in blue.

"This country is Kinvep, where it's mostly mountainous and very cold. The people of Kinvep have mostly moved underground and are incredibly inventive. They're also very secretive, so it's very rare to see one of their people outside their homes, let along hold a conversation with them."

She shot her glare towards the elder who glanced back nervously before turning to the children.

"Let's be nice to the Kinvep people and let them mind their own business."

His statement came off a little as a question, but it seemed to go unnoticed by the children. The elder turned towards Yiv nervously, but the tension in his shoulders released as she nodded sternly.

"When you're older, you're free to travel to wherever you'd like. Just remember to keep in mind what sort of people and places you want to go and plan ahead. It's vital that you don't get lost, especially."

Yiv reached towards the bottom of the map, preparing to roll it back up, when she saw a hand shoot up out of the corner of her vision. She quickly turned and pointed at the girl who seemed to have a burning question.

"What's the country in the middle?"

Yiv quickly glanced at the map, looking towards the yellow patch in the middle before turning back towards the child with a cold tone in her voice. As she spoke, the elder spoke at the same time, speaking the same words that they had both been passed down since childhood.

"Lioteca is the country of the cursed. Never venture into their lands."